I buy stuff from Amazon - I pay for it, they send it. Finish, end, terminal.
Now they want feedback - only if they pay me!
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I get these requests if I use an Amazon seller, not for stuff provided directly.
If they're selling mass market stuff then I ignore. I have given positive feedback on, for example, the North East based outfit Mawson and Wareham who distribute Alex Glasgow and the Northern Drift.
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One of the nicest features of Amazon is the reviews. I bought a wireless printer recently that has not been reviewed very well but had a very consistent feedback theme of being no bother at all. I bought one, and it's been no bother at all, in contrast to just about very printer I've had before.
I'm not going to leave a review on a T shirt (unless the arms fall off) but if I think I would find it useful then I will.
Amazon reviews are a damn sight more use than ebay feedback.
Last edited by: Manatee on Fri 11 Nov 11 at 07:27
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A friend of a relative is paid to write reviews by Amazon - nothing dodgy, he gets the kit on loan and writes genuine reviews.
Some of the reviews on everyday items are a joy to read, some real comedy.
Last edited by: R.P. on Fri 11 Nov 11 at 08:05
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I recently bought a small expensive SONY TV.
If I had read some of the public reviews I might not have bought it.
Unless you view it on the centre line the picture fades but worst of all it emits a loud "bong" on start up which is very irritating and displays SONY on the screen in big letters.
I know it is a SONY cos it has a label on the front and I am already awake cos I just switched it on so I do not want a wake up chime. I guess it is aimed at another market not me.
I like public comments even if you have to skip some of it.
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I always read the 1, 2,3 star feedback to see what the complaints are.
Sometimes trivial.. sometimes you see what they say is often repeated on the 5 star posts!
eg. Looking for a replacement garden shredder (Bosch ) the 1,2 and 3 star reviews all complained the blades blunted very quickly - within 1 hour of use..
Even the 5 star reviews said the same!
Needless to say, I would not buy one..
Last edited by: madf on Fri 11 Nov 11 at 09:13
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I find the reviews a real plus on Amazon. I was recently looking for a good pair of headphones and had £70-£80 in mind, but after looking at the reviews of a Sennheiser set at under £20 I bought them and they are fantastic. Without reading the reviews first I would probably have dismissed them as cheap and nasty.
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>>
>> Some of the reviews on everyday items are a joy to read, some real comedy.
>>
Indeed, I almost piddled myself with laughter reading some of the reviews for this stupidly expensive audiophool cable:-
www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000J36XR2/ref=cm_rdp_product
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>> Indeed, I almost piddled myself with laughter reading some of the reviews for this stupidly
>> expensive audiophool cable:-
>>
>> www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000J36XR2/ref=cm_rdp_product
Even funnier (?) is to look at "what people bought after viewing this item".
Sherlock Holmes, Kindle edition, $0.
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>>
>> Amazon reviews are a damn sight more use than ebay feedback.
>>
Agreed, even after you've filtered out the negative reviews from people who have obviously bought the wrong product for their needs are can't /won't RTFM; and the glowing reviews from people with very low expectations there's generally a few reviews left to form a reasonable opinion from. Amazing how often you see a product with a reasonable average of 3-4 stars, then you look at the distribution and it's actually a mixture of 1 star and 5 star reviews.
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...Amazing how often you see a product with a reasonable average of 3-4 stars, then you look at the distribution and it's actually a mixture of 1 star and 5 star reviews...
Which is why I can't be bothered with reviews.
Assuming the reviews in the above example are honest (and that's a big assumption), the next buyer - me - will be either a one star or five star person.
There's no means of deciding which category I will fall into.
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I like to see the reviews but as spamcan says you often need to do a lot of filtering to find useful advice.
When making a camera choice earlier this year it was obvious most of the reviewers had no comparative experience to make their comments worthwhile.
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>> Which is why I can't be bothered with reviews.
>>
Don't concur. You have to read them, not just look at the stars - as long as there's a decent sample a pattern quickly emerges if the item is unreliable or has a particular problem.
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I find that there needs to be a good range of reviews to make them useful then you can look for common themes, and weed out the unrealistic reviews like "we bought a citroen C1 because it's good on fuel, but disappointing that its noisy at 90 on the motorway" type comments
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...as long as there's a decent sample a pattern quickly emerges if the item is unreliable or has a particular problem...
There's still too much you don't know to make a correct judgment.
Take the failure of Ford dual mass flywheels.
Ford sell lots of cars.
The failure rate - one in however many it is - may be high, may be low, or average, compared to other cars.
It's even harder with gadgets because we've no idea how many are sold.
The 'unreliable' camera you rejected may, in fact, be more reliable than the one you bought, in terms of the chance of you buying a camera which breaks.
The reviewing sample is statistically meaningless.
Apart from anything else, you don't know the percentage of people who bought a camera which broke who then posted a review.
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I always try to get an informed review - ideally independent. But the only proper way is probably by reading Which? Unfortunately, it's often out of date and doesn't deal with the specific product I'm wanting to buy. Oh yes,..and I'm not paying for it either.
That leaves things like car / photography / hi-fi magazines which too have a bit of bias - I have yet to read a review that says don't buy this car.
As for the accuracy of any reviews from the great unwashed - well, let's not kid ourselves the vast bulk of the population are......erm......shall we say ....a tad less able to be as informed and discerning as the likes of those on this forum from where I got a lot of advice.
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...as the likes of those on this forum from where I got a lot of advice...
The qualifications and general background of the reviewer are another great unknown.
Zero and I have our differences, but 10 words on computing from him is worth more than 1,000 words from unknown reviewers.
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As for the accuracy of any reviews from the great unwashed - well, let's not kid ourselves the vast bulk of the population are......erm......shall we say ....a tad less able to be as informed and discerning as the likes of those on this forum from where I got a lot of advice.
and I would add.. if you read Amazon reviews carefully, you can usually pick out the discerning ones from the hoi polloi... :-)
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>> I always try to get an informed review - ideally independent. But the only proper
>> way is probably by reading Which?
Rarely found Which very helpful - I cancelled the sub years ago. Though I did buy the best wireless I ever had on a WHich recommendation.
>> That leaves things like car / photography / hi-fi magazines which too have a bit
>> of bias - I have yet to read a review that says don't buy this
>> car.
Precisely. Car mags especially are tend to be very subjective and in thrall to some makes.
And if course Amazon reviews include much rubbish, BUT read them all and a very good picture usually emerges. I find them much more useful on the whole than "professional" reviews.
A good example is the Brother wireless printer I bought a couple of months ago. The professional reviewers rated it no better than average (no great shakes on speed or print quality, and expensive cost per page). The buyers on the other hand all rated it (or similar ones in the range) for ease of use, no jams, there were no complaints about print quality, and compatible inks were £11 for 4 black and 2 each of three colours! The Epson equivalent was highly rated in the pro reviews (faster, lower page cost, good print quality) but the user reviews made constant reference to breakdowns and jams.
You have to read reviews for things like cameras with a critical eye. Clearly some of the users have no benchmark and potentially very different requirements, but they are still useful taken as a whole.
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>> >> I always try to get an informed review - ideally independent. But the only
>> proper
>> >> way is probably by reading Which?
>>
>> Rarely found Which very helpful - I cancelled the sub years ago. Though I did
>> buy the best wireless I ever had on a WHich recommendation.
Which? is way out of touch now and has been for a number of years. Cancelled my subscription over 10 years ago.
Last edited by: Zero on Fri 11 Nov 11 at 18:06
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>>
>> Which? is way out of touch now and has been for a number of years.
>> Cancelled my subscription over 10 years ago.
>>
+1
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>> Which? is way out of touch now and has been for a number of years.
>> Cancelled my subscription over 10 years ago.
Same here. I just had too many magazines cluttering up the place, and much of the content not needed (there are only so many toaster reviews I can take), but the bit's that were relevant to me were hard to pinpoint quickly, unless using the internet. If I could have continued the subscription using just an internet service, I might have done, but I'd rather just look for reviews on products from other sources, and for free.
I like the Amazon reviews - I'd rather build a picture of the good/bad points of a product from reviews written by people using their own cash to buy things. OK some of them might be a bit dodgy, but as has been said, professional reviews will sometimes be 'biased'.
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>> I buy stuff from Amazon - I pay for it, they send it. Finish, end,
>> terminal.
>>
>> Now they want feedback - only if they pay me!
gawd blimey, you would soon be moaning on here if the service was carp, so why not give Amazon feedback.
As far as reviews go, I find them really helpful, a lot of the 1s are from moaning ninnies (like one from a customer who was moaning that he couldnt find a "codec" in the box to play his camera video files and how disgusting of the maker not to ship one! DOH!) but some are genuine issues.
I read them all to get a balanced impression.
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>> One of the nicest features of Amazon is the reviews
I wrote a not so favourable (but all factual) review of Kindle and it was deleted by Amazon.
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...and it was deleted by Amazon...
Yet another reason not to trust reviews - those who publish them confuse editing with censoring.
In other words, Amazon are professional retailers and amateur publishers, but they are doing both.
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Mind the baby with that bathwater, Iffy! It's just information, some good, some rubbish. Read it with critical faculties engaged and there's plenty to learn from it. Amazon knows this and encourages thoughtful, informative reviewing. After all, its biggest asset is not the margin it makes or doesn't on any one buyer's decision, which will be tiny; it's the reputation for openness and fair dealing that keeps customers like me coming back.
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...Mind the baby with that bathwater, Iffy!...
That's a thought, but when I look at the review system with my journalist research head on, the whole thing looks like a bucket of poo.
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>> >> One of the nicest features of Amazon is the reviews
>>
>> I wrote a not so favourable (but all factual) review of Kindle and it was
>> deleted by Amazon.
>>
I had the same a few years back with a greenhouse.
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people with Greenhouses shouldn't throw stones....
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I, for one, have learnt to respect the opinions on kit on this site - I've made quite a few purchases based on what I've read and seen on here.
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Then why aren't you all driving Kia Prides?
;>)
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>> your perverse!
What's strawberry jam got to do with it?
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Amazon Feedback - please give your feedback ! - Roger.
